IN PRACTICE
Understanding your willpower
Willpower is not only a skill that can be strengthened, but also a commodity that can be depleted.
EXCLUSIVE TUESDAY PREVIEW | G cover
Two cops, two shootouts, one family
Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff
When Police Sergeant Joe McCain Jr. had a wild gunfight on the job, it was eerily reminiscent of one his father survived in 1988.
On Hockey
Fine season so far for the Bruins
While the Coyotes wait for a Wednesday night visit by the blazing-hot Bruins in the Glendale desert, here are a few Boxing Day briefs from the Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont.
Online shopping jumps on Christmas Day
Internet shopping also showed a 10 percent increase this afternoon over last year as the number of shoppers using mobile devices surged.
Maine toddler was taken, police say
A 20-month-old girl didn’t walk from her home on her own, officials said today as they announced the largest reward ever in Maine to find a missing person.
MBTA dispatcher faces reprimand after holiday message
’Tis the season to offer subway riders a bit of holiday cheer, but a dispatcher’s move to do that on Christmas Day could land him in hot water.
New operating room a high-tech wonder
Brigham and Women’s has opened a new surgical facility that allows surgeons to use just the right equipment for a wide variety of procedures.
“Would I like to see my daughters now? I would. But... as long as they’re with somebody, I’m comforted.”
Marty Manson, whose daughter, Adina Davies, is spending the holidays with friends
Inside The Boston Globe
Columnists
Metro
Bottle redemption centers struggling
The number of bottles and cans being returned has dropped in the state, in part because redemption centers are rapidly going out of business.
Business
Tech lab plus
Gadgets worth checking out
Stump is just a sawed-off chunk of plastic that makes any mobile device a lot easier to use.
Politics
analysis
On tax deal, House GOP should have quit when it was ahead
House Republicans snatched political defeat from the jaws of victory in the showdown over Social Security payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits.
Nation & World
Arab monitors head to Syria, opposition skeptical
President Bashar Assad’s regime has intensified its crackdown since agreeing to the Arab plan to stop the bloodshed.
Sports
New Celtic Brandon Bass hits the boards in debut
Brandon Bass had a double-double in his first Celtics game, with 20 points and 11 rebounds, including five offensive rebounds.
Health and wellness
G Force
He speaks his mind on health
Dr. Salah D. Salman, a former Lebanese cabinet minister and former surgeon at the Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary, wrote a critique of the American medical system.
Arts
The kindred spirits of the year’s top album releases
If you stuck to 2011’s top albums, you may have missed some real gems. Here are our critics’ picks for can’t-miss complements to the year’s biggest albums.
Opinion
“States that build housing grow jobs, while states that don’t build housing don’t grow.”
Paul McMorrow
Ideas
The practice of sending commercially printed cards soon became wildly popular. It reached the United States in 1875…By 1958, the average US family mailed 100 Christmas cards.
Mark Feeney on the history of Christmas cards